The Book of Nomo - Chapter 10 - Whither NPB?

TOKYO — Some critics argue that Hideo Nomo sowed the seeds of destruction of Japan professional baseball when he abruptly declared his “voluntary retirement” and left for the U.S. back in 1995. One after another, players from the NPB packed their bags and followed him, and although their accomplishments in MLB have been mixed, the result back home in Japan has arguably been a steady diminishment in the power and prestige of Japanese baseball. 

In the wake of Nomo’s departure to the States, Japan lost its best hitter (Ichiro), its best slugger (Hideki Matsui), its best infielder (Kazuo Matsui), its second best infielder (Tadahito Iguchi), its best catcher (Johjima), its best outfielder (Fukudome) and superstar pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka,  Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish. That was  bleeding on a grand scale even before Shohei Ohtani ever appeared on the scene.

This migration caused the NPB to become a glorified minor league system for MLB.